No. 1 Calvin pushes way into NCAA volleyball semis

Thursday

Nov 21, 2013 at 6:31 PMNov 21, 2013 at 6:31 PM

By Dan.D'Addona@hollandsentinel.com (616) 546-4276

The Calvin College volleyball team looked poised to make quick work of Massachusetts-Boston, leading 24-17 in the third set.After winning the first two sets 25-23, 25-13, the No. 1 Knights needed just one point to advance to the semifinals.But UMass-Boston stunned the Knights by going on a 9-0 run to win the third set 26-24.The Knights were forced to regroup and managed to hang on for a 25-18 win in the fourth to advance Thursday at the NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships at Hope College's DeVos Fieldhouse."I thought we showed a lot of grit," said Calvin coach Amber Warners, a Holland Christian graduate. "There were some pressure-filled moments. We did a really nice job holding our composure."Calvin (33-1), will face Emory (Ga.), which defeated Eastern (Pa.) 25-23, 25-15, 25-20 in Friday's 5 p.m. semifinal."Emory is one of the few teams in the nation just like us," Warners said. "They have an attacking setter, they are big, they are tall. You have to come and bring your A game or you are going home."Calvin didn't bring that A game for that short stretch against UMass-Boston."We really try to focus each point and we kind of got ahead of ourselves there," Calvin senior Megan Rietema said.The Knights led 24-17 in the fourth set — same score as the third — but only allowed one point before closing out the match on a kill by Maggie Kamp."It was the nature of the game," Warners said. "They were serving really aggressively and we were thinking to much. It was the way we responded in the fourth that was really crucial."Kamp, a first-team All-American, had 21 kills to lead the Knights, posting a hitting percentage of .436.Kamp had 12 digs, but had a few errors in the back row and was subbed out a couple of times. Both times, she came back with key kills in decisive set-winning runs."When one part of your game isn't going well, it is good to focus on another," Kamp said. "I focused on hitting because passing just wasn't coming naturally. When I got taken out, it was a good chance to catch my breath and come back on fire."Rietema, named the NCAA Division III Volleyball Player of the Year on Wednesday, had 39 assists, seven kills and 12 digs.Kristen Zietse added 21 digs and Ellie Diepersloot had 10 kills. Laura Danhoff had seven kills and six blocks.Corrine Porter had 11 kills to lead UMass-Boston (24-16)."That was a touch match for us," UMass-Boston coach Terry Condon said. "Three weeks ago, we found this 'We-aren't-going-to-die' attitude. At regionals, we were down 22-7 and came back and won. That started this attitude. No matter what the score was, we could come back. That is how we won a lot of games this year."